| State Highway Beltway 8 | ||||
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| Route information | ||||
| Length: | 83.128 mi[1] (133.782 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1969[1] – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| CCW end: | SH 225 in Pasadena | |||
| IH 45 - US 59 IH 10 - IH 45 US 59 - all in Houston |
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| CW end: | IH 10 east of Houston | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Highways in Texas
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Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an 88-mile (142 km) beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County.[2] Beltway 8, a state highway, runs mostly along the frontage roads, only using the main lanes where they are free (mostly on the north side of Houston). The main lanes elsewhere are the Sam Houston Tollway, a toll road owned and operated by the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA). East of Houston, the Tollway crosses the Houston Ship Channel on the Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge, a toll bridge; this forms a gap in Beltway 8 between Interstate Highway 10 (Baytown-East Freeway) and State Highway 225 (La Porte Freeway).
Beltway 8 is the intermediate beltway in the Houston area. The inner beltway - Interstate Highway 610 - lies completely within Houston (except for an approximate two mile (3 km) stretch that runs through the City of Bellaire), and the outer beltway - State Highway 99 (Grand Parkway) - is nowhere near complete.
Portions of the West Belt, as sections of the Beltway are called by their compass names, are in various stages of expansion due to high traffic volumes.
Like other toll roads in the Houston area, the speed limit is 65 mph (105 km/h).
Despite recent speculation about the possibility of the Sam Houston Tollway being sold by HCTRA to a private firm, the Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously voted to keep the tollway in the hands of HCTRA.[3]
As of September 3, 2007 the toll has increased by $0.25 system wide with some exceptions.
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A second beltway around Houston, known for its fast population growth, had been in the planning stages since the 1950s (the first was the 610 Loop, created between the 1950s and the '70s). The Tollway's construction was piecemealed from the opening of the West Belt, a surface street, in the mid-1970s to the completion of the South Belt in the mid-1990s. The Jesse H. Jones Memorial Bridge, the Tollway's crossing of the Houston Ship Channel, was constructed by the then-Texas Turnpike Authority (TTA) and was opened in 1982.
The TTA, however, turned down the opportunity to improve the entire Beltway as well, leaving Harris County to upgrade the road to freeway standards. However, Harris County could not afford to build and maintain a freeway from its general fund.
In September 1983, county voters approved a referendum by a 7-3 margin to release up to $900 million in bonds to create two toll roads - the Hardy Toll Road (basically a reliever for I-45 between downtown Houston and Montgomery County) and the Sam Houston Tollway, which would be the main lanes of the Beltway. Shortly after the referendum, the Harris County Commissioners Court created the HCTRA to administer the construction and operation of the new road system. Then-County Judge Jon Lindsay is generally credited with shepherding the referendum from its infancy to its passage, along with the implementation of the plan for the roadway.
In 1989 the The Bangles performed at the opening of the segment of Beltway 8 between Interstate 10 (Katy Freeway) and U.S. Route 290.[4] On Saturday July 7, 1990, a ceremony, called Road Party II, took place for the opening of the section of Beltway 8 between Interstate 45 (the North Freeway) and Highway 290, the final segment. Organizers had planned for a crowd of 100,000. KLOL, a radio station, sponsored the event. Jerry Lightfoot & The Essential Band did the opening 80 minute set.[5] The band Huey Lewis and the News performed at the ceremony.[4] The 290-45 segment opened on Sunday July 6, 1990. The project was on schedule and $133 million in 1990 U.S. dollars under budget.[5]
On February 26, 2011, construction of the main lanes between U.S. Highway 59 (Eastex Freeway) and U.S. Highway 90 (Crosby Freeway) was completed, thus completing the entire Beltway system.[6] This section was originally set to be completed between 2007 and 2009, but funding issues delayed its completion.[7] The project cost $400 million and was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.[8] The new 13 miles (21 km) section has three lanes in each direction, and an EZ Tag or TxTag will be required to access it. Almost 60 years had passed between the planning of Beltway 8 and the opening of the final section.[2]
A number of cameras are located at toll booths to record license plate information to a database and send a ticket via mail. Recently, this system has been upgraded to alert local authorities if a vehicle has been flagged for any reason, including Amber Alerts. When a flagged vehicle is detected, it notifies the closest law enforcement officer to investigate. At this time, Precinct 5 Constables and Harris County Sheriff's Office are being notified, but Houston Police Department has shown interest and wishes to be included to be notified. The total number of cameras that are planned for the system is 35.[9]
The longest free section of main lanes is on the north side of Houston, stretching from Ella Boulevard east to Mesa Dr. This is maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation east of roughly the Hardy Toll Road interchange.[10] It includes the interchanges with US 59, the Hardy Toll Road, and Interstate Highway 45 (North Freeway).
Three shorter free sections also exist:
These all exist in order to allow federal funding to have been used to build the freeway-to-freeway interchanges at the Baytown-East, Gulf and Southwest Freeways.
The frontage roads are generally continuous, and allow for slower free travel along the tolled segments. Only one break exists in the frontage roads; there are also several locations where one must turn to stay on them:
The lane count is for mainlanes only, unless otherwise noted. Starting at U.S. Highway 290, and moving in a clockwise direction, mainlane counts are as follows:
Clockwise reads down and counterclockwise reads up.
All exits are unnumbered.
| County | Location | Mile[13] | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | Pasadena | 0.0 | SH 225 – Deer Park, Houston | |||
| Red Bluff Road, Pasadena Boulevard | ||||||
| Spencer Highway, Vista Road, Pine Street | ||||||
| Fairmont Parkway, Vista Road | ||||||
| Genoa-Red Bluff Road, Preston Road, Crenshaw Road | Clockwise exit is via the Fairmont Parkway exit | |||||
| Houston | 7.5 | SH 3 (Old Galveston Road) | ||||
| 8.6 | I-45 – Galveston, Houston | |||||
| Sabo Road | Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance | |||||
| Beamer Road, Sabo Road, Hughes Road | ||||||
| Blackhawk Road | Clockwise exit is via the Beamer Road exit | |||||
| Pearland Parkway, Monroe Road | Counterclockwise exit is via the SH 35 Hobby Airport exit | |||||
| 13.6 | SH 35 (Telephone Road) – Hobby Airport | |||||
| Mykawa Road | Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance | |||||
| South Wayside Drive | ||||||
| M.L. King Boulevard | Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance | |||||
| FM 865 (Cullen Boulevard) / Fellows Road | ||||||
| SH 288 / Fellows Road | ||||||
| Kirby Drive | Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance | |||||
| FM 521 (Almeda Road) | ||||||
| Houston | South Post Oak Road | Counterclockwise exit is via the West Fuqua Street exit | ||||
| West Fuqua Street | ||||||
| Fort Bend Toll Road | ||||||
| Fondren Road | Counterclockwise exit is via the US 90 Alt. exit | |||||
| Missouri City | US 90 Alt. (South Main Street) |
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| South Gessner Road | Counterclockwise exit is via West Airport Boulevard | |||||
| Houston | West Airport Boulevard | |||||
| West Bellfort Boulevard | Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance | |||||
| 31.1 | US 59 – Victoria, Houston | |||||
| Beltway 8 (Frontage Road) | Counterclockwise exit only | |||||
| 32.2 | Bissonnet Street | Counterclockwise CCW exit and clockwise entrance | ||||
| Beechnut Street | ||||||
| Bellaire Boulevard, Westpark Drive | ||||||
| Westpark Tollway | ||||||
| 36.3 | Westheimer Road (FM 1093), Richmond Avenue | |||||
| Briar Forest Drive | ||||||
| Deerwood Drive | Counterclockwise exit only | |||||
| Boheme Drive | Clockwise exit only | |||||
| Memorial Drive | Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance | |||||
| 39.6 | I-10 – San Antonio, Downtown Houston | |||||
| Westview Drive | Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance | |||||
| Hammerly Boulevard, Kempwood Drive | ||||||
| Clay Road, Tanner Road, Kempwood Drive | ||||||
| West Little York Road | Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance | |||||
| 46.0 | US 290 – Austin, Downtown Houston | |||||
| West Road, Philippine Street | ||||||
| Fallbrook Drive, Windfern Road | Counterclockwise exit is via the Gessner Road exit | |||||
| Gessner Road, Fairbanks North Houston Road | ||||||
| 52.3 | SH 249 / Hollister Road, Fairbanks North Houston Road | |||||
| Antoine Drive, Wirt Rd, Bammel North Houston Road | Clockwise exit is via the SH 249 exit | |||||
| Veterans Memorial Drive, T.C. Jester Boulevard | No counterclockwise exit | |||||
| Houston | Beltway 8 (Frontage Road) / Greens Crossing, Ella Boulevard | |||||
| 58.5 | I-45 – Dallas, Downtown Houston | |||||
| Greenspoint Drive, Imperial Valley Drive | ||||||
| Imperial Valley Drive | Clockwise exit is via the Greenspoint Drive exit | |||||
| Hardy Toll Road | ||||||
| Aldine-Westfield Road | No clockwise entrance | |||||
| Houston | JFK Boulevard, Vickery Drive - Bush Intercontinental Airport | |||||
| Lee Road, Vickery Drive | ||||||
| 65.6 | US 59 – Cleveland, Houston | |||||
| Mesa Drive | ||||||
| Wilson Road | ||||||
| John Ralston Road, Lockwood Road | ||||||
| West Lake Houston Parkway | ||||||
| Winfield Road, North Lake Houston Parkway, CE King Parkway / FM 526 | ||||||
| Garrett Road, Little York Road | ||||||
| US 90 – Liberty, Houston, Tidwell Road | ||||||
| Wallisville Road | ||||||
| Woodforest Boulevard | ||||||
| Market Steet | Counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance | |||||
| 83.13[1] | I-10 – Beaumont, Houston | |||||
| Jacinto Port Boulevard | Clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance | |||||
| Pasadena | Jesse H. Jones Memorial Bridge/Sam Houston Ship Channel Bridge | |||||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||||
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